Dave Wright, lawyer and partner at Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP, was honoured with the Manitoba Bar Association’s Pro Bono Award this month. Dave was recognized for his work on behalf of Manitobans living with disabilities.
Dave has been a dedicated CPAWS Manitoba board member since 2004. He is also a member and Secretary of the CPAWS National Board of Trustees. His efforts include developing a sustainability project for the Manitoba chapter that seeks funding certainty for conservation initiatives in the province. His leadership and assistance in finance and fundraising has been invaluable. Dave’s enthusiasm and devotion to protect Canada’s great wilderness in his support of CPAWS is appreciated and inspiring.
Dave’s generosity reveals itself in the many ways he is involved and engaged in the Canadian community. In his many commitments and actions Dave is making our world a better place and motivating the people around him to get involved in charitable pursuits.
- Read the Free Press article, “Winnipeg’s top lawyers honoured today”
By Ron Thiessen, CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director
Traditional medicine man and teacher ‘Morning Star’ Garry Raven passed away on January 17, 2010.
I met him in 2001 when I visited his home in Hollow Water First Nation to discuss the potential of the Manigotagan River and surrounding area being protected in a provincial park. He welcomed me with open arms and I soon became impressed by Garry’s vast knowledge and strong desire to protect the Boreal Forest from industrial developments.
- A story about Garry – based on a interview with him in 2008
- Garry’s Pipe Carriers Ceremony to bring awareness to the importance of the lands on Eastside of Lake Winnipeg
Tim Horton’s and Province Pitch New Camp in Whiteshell Provincial Park
The province has announced a new location for a proposed Tim Horton’s children’s camp near Sylvia Lake in Whiteshell provincial park. The message from CPAWS is the same as last year when Meditation Lake was originally proposed for a Tim Horton’s camp in the park– no more development in this or any Manitoba park before a management plan, complete with public consultation, is finalized.
CPAWS encourages nature experiences through sustainable tourism ventures, including children's camps, but we must first have management plans for our parks before further developments. You wouldn't consider building a bedroom before planning the rest of the house. This is the approach the province is taking with our treasured parks.
As piecemeal developments without a master vision often lead to disastrous results, CPAWS has long pressed the province to fulfill their decade-old commitment to produce park management plans for Whiteshell and all our provincial 81 parks - presently only 3 have completed plans.
Map of the proposed Tim’s Camp. Click to Enlarge:
On January 21st, 2010, Manitoba political party leaders debated the location of the upcoming BiPole major Hydro transmission corridor..
Deputy Premier Rosanne Wowchuk stated that a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an east side Hydro line are incompatible. She asserted that the decision has been made and the line is going down the west side. She also made it clear that abundant concerns expressed from potential U.S. customers about an east side hydro line would place export sales at risk.
Manitoba Liberal Leader John Gerrard issued the Liberal party’s preference for BiPole III to run under Lake Winnipeg. He stated that this option is feasible and the costs involved would be similar, or less, due to fewer negotiations.
Manitoba PC leader Hugh McFayden left no doubt that his party wants an east side Hydro line. He mentioned that he hasn’t seen any documentation supporting claims that export sales would be threatened by an east side transmission corridor.
CPAWS Manitoba Executive Director Ron Thiessen went up to the microphone to share how keeping a major hydro corridor away from the east side will help to gain World Heritage Site status for the region. He stated that it is a contest, as there are many candidates but few are chosen. Thiessen noted that a transmission corridor that offers little or no long-term benefits to local communities would weaken its case for approval. He further remarked that the proposal would be stronger without a major slice through the area, increasing the chances of receiving this internationally prestigious designation that will bring people from all over the world to experience its exceptional culture and unbroken wilderness.
See Also:
Bloodvein River First Nation has joined the quest for a World Heritage Site on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. As an active member of Pimachiowin Aki - a unique partnership to safeguard the Anishinabe culture and the boreal forest - Bloodvein River First Nation joins the First Nations of Poplar River, Little Grand Rapids, Paungassi and Pikangikum as well as the provincial governments of Manitoba and Ontario.
William Young, band councilor and spokesperson for Bloodvein First Nation, reveals that more than half of the community’s traditional territory of 4300 square kilometres will be added to the current 40,000 square kilometres in the proposed World Heritage Site area. He states it is likely more land will be included after consultation with community membership.
Blog post by Chris Henschel of CPAWS - January 6, 2010
No one seems quite sure yet what the implications of the Copenhagen Accord will be. It is a three-age political agreement between six Heads of State (U.S., Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Maldives) that is vague on ambition and lacking any legally binding nature.
A big question is what happens to the draft legal agreements that nations of the UN had been working on for the past two years to extend the Kyoto Protocol and bring in the US and support developing countries? The official UN mandate for countries to work on these legally-binding agreements has been extended, but will they ever be finalized now that there is a new, loosey-goosey game in town? Just today news came out that Australia, Canada and Papua New Guinea have chosen to associate themselves with the Accord.
This uncertainty extends to provisions for developed countries to account for emissions from forestry (LULUCF) and the creation of a new mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD). The Copenhagen Accord recognizes the need to establish a REDD mechanism, but does not do so.
The Accord is totally silent on forestry emissions in developed countries - the negotiations on this topic were cut short when Heads of State arrived. In some sense this was a good thing because they were headed in the wrong direction: every developed country would be allowed to increase their forestry emissions without any penalty, as long as emissions didn't increase more than predicted.
Environmental groups staged a good fight against this idea in Copenhagen - in favour of Making Forests Count and against the logging loophole. We also proposed a very fair basis of accounting: account for all changes in forestry emissions relative to a historical average using all existing data that has been provided to the UN(from 1990 - 2007). Some champions emerged, notably France, who challenged the EU to take a position with environmental integrity.
I would say that we can still win this fight except, as I've said, it's not entirely clear there is still a fight to be won - will there be a new Kyoto agreement on forestry accounting rules? Will there be a Kyoto beyond 2012. The answer to both these questions must be yes if we are to have a fair, ambitious and legally-binding global agreement to tack climate change... but the next few months will tell whether that is in the cards.
Manitoba Hydro has concluded its 3rd round of consultations for the location of the upcoming Bipole 3 transmission corridor. Please review the information and routing alternatives maps and send your opinion to Manitoba Hydro. Manitoba Hydro will make a decision on the preferred route in the next few months. The 4th and final open houses will be held in winter or spring 2010.
BiPole 3 – Alternatives Routes Map
http://www.hydro.mb.ca/projects/bipoleIII/bipoleIII_alt_routes.pdf
Presentation Slides From 3rd Round of Public Open Houses About BiPole 3
http://www.hydro.mb.ca/projects/bipoleIII/bipoleIII_open_house_091105.pdf
Round 3 Newsletter
http://www.hydro.mb.ca/projects/bipoleIII/bipoleIII_newsletter3.pdf
Send Manitoba Hydro your feedback
http://www.hydro.mb.ca/projects/bipoleIII/round3_comment_sheet_form.html
Bloodvein River First Nation has become an active member of Pimachiowin Aki Corp. joining with four other First Nations to have a portion of the Manitoba-Ontario boreal forest designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bloodvein River’s decision means that additional lands will be added to the project planning area. Bloodvein River spokesperson William Young says he anticipates that more than 50 percent of his community’s traditional territory will be added to the 40,000 square kilometres currently in the World Heritage Site project area. Bloodvein River’s land use plan is being developed and when complete will determine exactly which part of the First Nation’s traditional area will be included within the UNESCO bid.
New report: Traditional aboriginal knowledge key to Boreal Forest conservation
Traditional knowledge held by Canada's Aboriginal people about the Boreal Forest offers western scientists a vitally important information source, according to a report published by the David Suzuki Foundation, the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and the Boreal Songbird Initiative.
The report, Conservation Value of the North American Boreal Forest from an Ethnobotanical Perspective, describes the deep botanical and ecological knowledge that Canada's Aboriginal peoples have gained over thousands of years of using the Boreal Forest as grocery, pharmacy, school, and spiritual centre.
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